Summorum Pontificum Round-up

Round-Up

Since my two cents would not really add anything to the discussion, and since I've already set forth my (no count, take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt) opinion, I have here selected a handful of resources that have helped me in researching the new document motu proprio data yesterday by the Holy Father.

--- I recommend checking out Jimmy Akin's commentary on the document itself with consideration of its legal weight: the first full-length, educated review available.

--- I also recommend that proponents of a wider usage of the Old forms acquaint themselves (for the first time, or again if necessary) with Father Z's "rulez."

--- I'm sure we're all avid readers already, but perhaps have missed the newest newsletter from the Bishop's Committee on the Liturgy, which has a piece of interest. [Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the drafting of that article...]

--- A good friar from the Order of Preachers offers a hypothetical consideration of how the newest legistlation may be undermined here.

--- Amy Welborn gives a nice little catechesis in her Motu Proprio Tip Sheet.

--- And Father Finigan has his own round-up with some other useful links.

UPDATE - 10 July 2007

--- I missed this, but of course it's always worth checking out what Father Neuhaus has to say.

The Two Cents I Said I Wasn't Going to Throw In

With everything that has been said and is currently circulating around Saint Blog's and in the Catholic press, I think only two points are worth emphasizing still one more time on these pages, to wit:

(I) We need to pray for our Holy Father, for our Bishops, for our Pastors, and for the entire Church, particularly in the Latin Rite, and this our prayer embracing the true spirit of the Sacred Council which extolled the Liturgy as the "source and summit" of our life and faith (Lumen Gentium 11; c.f. CCC 1324). In other words, we may not underestimate the importance of this matter or see it to be peripheral or inconsequential simply because there is a minimal likelihood of our being directly effected by these decrees. The Church lives and works as a unified Body and what touches any members resonates throughout the whole. The Holy Father's own words underline the importance which he gives to this matter: that should be enough of an endorsement for us to give it our due attention in prayer.

(II) In addition to our remembrance of this matter in prayer, we should do our part to work towards the achievement of the Holy Father's wishes: joining real work to our prayers will make them all the more worthy a sacrifice. The primary work which we can do now is to study the document itself, to engage fruitful debate and discussion regarding various interpretations and (I must add) translations, and to familiarize ourselves even more with the wonderful unity and continuity of the Liturgical Tradition of the Church. Summorum Pontificum emphasizes the ancient relation between the "lex orandi" and the "lex credendi": we need to honestly evaluate our knowledge of the latter in light of our comprehension of the former, and seek answers where we fall short, with a docile humility and with a true eagerness to "own the mystery."

Let us tread this path faithfully together, regardless of divergence of opinions, in the confident hope that all travail will lead to fruitful harmony and that our own efforts in prayer and study will be for our own good, for the good of all God's Holy Church, and - as always - ad majorem Dei gloriam.